new beads...an order and a surprise set

I have been trying very hard to hold back on major bead purchases until Christmas and focus on creating pieces on my "to do" list with what I have in stock.  One of the things that I enjoy most about making jewelry is choosing and working with beads so it's tough to hold off on bead purchases.

I'm sure that many of you know that I'm a big fan of Jen of blueseraphim.  I browse her shop very regularly.  When I saw that she was having a 35% off sale on orders of $50 or more, I knew that I couldn't pass it up.  I have asked for Jen's beads for Christmas the last couple years.  I figure that I'm just treating myself early this year.  If you like lampwork beads, please get over there and take advantage of this amazing offer.  The averaged price of these beads after the discount and including shipping was $1 per piece.

I'm planning to use the charm as one of the charm options for my new herringbone line.  The turquoise beads will be amazing focals for one or two pieces.  I'm looking forward to using the squares and other discs as buttons or for embellishments.

I also got a package from Erika earlier this month.  She had asked me if I'd be interested in her leaf beads that she isn't planning to use any time soon.  Of course I said yes.  Erika is so generous.  Look at everything that she sent me.

The green leaf charm will be another amazing focal for herringbone wrap bracelets/necklaces.  There is a lot of great Czech glass here, too, that I'll be able to use in my classic lines.  Thanks again Erika!

new bead and button goodies for Christmas

I'm sure that this is no surprise to anyone reading this, but I am always excited about new bead and button goodies for Christmas and my birthday (or any other time someone surprises me with a random gift).  I got both this year for Christmas!  Here's a little preview for everyone.

My mom got me the awesome set on the left from Jen (blueseraphim).  Some of you may remember that this exact set was on my 2010 Etsy wish list so I was super excited about that.  Then my brother's girlfriend got me the set on the right from a shop in Chicago called Beadniks.  I have never been there before, but I need to sometime!

My mom got the rest of this year's stash for me, largely from a craft or fabric store (I'm not sure which) that was going out of business.  It's always sad to see a craft place close, but it's nice when you can take advantage of clearance deals.  This is the shell set.  As you probably know, I've had a lot of success with my shell bead jewelry line.  This will be a fun new twist on that idea.  I am definitely going to make at least one shell button charm bracelet with this set.  A matching set of earring has potential to be awesome as well.  I'm open to other ideas, too.

My in-laws got me a huge set of clearance button strips like this last year, which I have used extensively.  They work wonderfully for earring stud pairs and can be worked into almost any button charm bracelet style.  I'm really excited to have more for my stash.  There are some great blue/red matching pairs in this set.  Christmas in July anyone?

There were a few other random cards, too.  I LOVE the silver Celtic knot design.  It will make an awesome clasp for a Celtic themed bracelet at some point in the future.

Finally, my mom found some more vintage American flag buttons in her own stash.  I got a handful of them a while back and have made a couple earring stud pairs from them as I blogged about here.  I would love to use these for a button charm bracelet, but they are so old (as you can tell from the way the cardboard is literally disintegrating) that I would worry about them wearing through.  So I will probably use them for an embellished button bracelet like this one.

new listing, goodies from the weekend, custom order

As promised, I listed a new pair of earrings tonight: fall striped peyote triangle earrings.

These are my largest peyote triangle earrings thus far.  They're designed to coordinate with my Autumn Explosion peyote cuff.  I used the same color delicas for the base of the cuff and for the earrings.  The smaller size has done really well so far, but I may make a few more in this larger size as well.  Let me know what you think!

Also, as promised here are my new goodies from this weekend.

I put all of the loose buttons into the little ziplocks that had held one or two buttons from a particular garment.

There were a number of buttons, mostly neutral shades, on cards as well.

I can use a few of the smaller buttons on cards for earring studs.  A lot of the new neutral buttons will be great for a neutral button charm bracelet.  As you can see in the corner of the last shot, I also got some bells and large gold shank buttons.  One of my friends has an idea for a crazy button/general charm bracelet for one of her grandmas for Christmas that the buttons and shanks will be perfect for.  I am going to remake my original Christmas button charm bracelet while the Christmas in July sale is still going on, but I wasn't planning to include any bells in it (unless there's interest...).

I cannot resist buying Czech leaf beads when they are in bulk like this because they are SO much cheaper than when they're priced individually.  Briolette had tons of green leaves this weekend.  I already had a decent stash at home and wondered why I thought I needed just a few more.  It turns out that it's good that I did, though, because I got a custom order for the leafy series - Indian Summer as a necklace when I got back to Iowa.  Needless to say, I will need a lot of them!  I will post progress/final result pictures of how that goes.  This will definitely be a new endeavor for me.

blog award, giveaway, new goodies

Duni of Lovely Purses gave me this award today. :)

Thanks Duni! I just gave out the Circle of Friends award a couple weeks ago so I don't think I will be passing this one on to anyone, but I still really appreciate it.

Kristie of Artisan Clay is having a sale right now in honor of her hopefully soon 300th sale on Etsy. You can get all of the information about the sale as well as a giveway she's having on her blog. The specific entry is right here. I have not bought anything from Kristie yet, but if I don't win the giveaway, I may have to cave!

I received my first pieces ever from Lisa of LisaPetersArt this weekend. This was not an Etsy order but some pieces that I requested from her Flickr photostream.


I already have a plan for the smaller brown rectangle. I normally try to make the clasps on my leafy bracelets blend in with the bracelets, but I think that I'm going to have to make an exception for one with one of Lisa's leaf beads. I'm thinking about a green/pink one, kind of like my original version, for it. Lisa has many amazing items on Etsy, but she has even more on Flickr so I highly recommend checking out her photostream as well.

I got my newest pieces from Jenn of blueseraphim the beginning of this week. I got a set of funky nuggets and a set of assorted caramel beads. All gorgeous! They look even more amazing in person than they do in the pictures. I also got my freebie necklace with one of these mocha ruffles from my previous order coupon.

I think that's it for splurging for a while, at least until I get another sale on Etsy and have some more money in my PayPal account. :)

purple button embellishment

I decided to call my pink, red, purple, and white cuff Whimsical Manicure. It is now listed in my shop. You can see it here. Thank you so much for those of you who offered suggestions!

I also listed a new button embellished bracelet today. As anticipated, the next one that I made is purple. I'm thinking about blue for my third one.


I'm still having a lot of fun with peyote triangles as well. I may end up creating a new section for them in my Etsy shop. It would be nice to have something in there besides bracelets. Of course I actually have to finish a few more and photograph them before that can happen haha.

I ordered a new selection of beads from Art Beads today, thanks to the money I got for my birthday from my dad's parents. I may stop by the bead store in Iowa City when Jake and I are there for his Frolics' rehearsal this afternoon as well. I've enjoyed the leaf beads that I've gotten over the past year so much and would like to look for a few more there.

I've indulged in lots of new beads over the last couple weeks. I'm going to try to hold off on anything but little items (i.e. jump rings, clasps, etc.) until my birthday now (which is late March). We'll see if I can make it!

I don't have too much else to report aside from some new listings. I'm very close to 100 items (80 listed currently) and am looking forward to pulling out my cross-stitch again this weekend.

I have already gotten a couple wonderful comments about this piece.

I freaking love how this turned out. My two current jewelry obsessions - bead weaving and buttons - came together perfectly.

This is one of Jake's (my husband) favorite pieces right now.

We are currently getting 1-3 inches of snow in the Iowa City area so I will most likely be spending most of tomorrow indoors working on crafty activities. :)